Parish Church of the Conversion of St. Paul (St. Pauls, Eppan)

The church in the village of "Sankt Pauls" belonging to Eppan an der Weinstraße was - unsurprisingly - consecrated to Saint Paul. At first he was an opponent of the Christian movement and was not called to the apostleship by Jesus Christ during his lifetime like the other apostles, but was only converted later with the famous "Damascus experience" (see Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9). Churches with the patronage "Pauli conversion" are comparatively rare.
His attribute, with which he is usually depicted in paintings or as a statue, is the sword with which he was executed. According to the Roman law of the time, such a sentence was a “privilege” (quick death and not associated with a long, agonizing agony like other types of execution) that the citizens of Rome were entitled to.
Peter (Rock) is also known together with Paul as the "Princes of the Apostles", their common commemoration day in the calendar of saints is June 29th. The feast of the conversion of Saul, the persecutor of Christians, who then became the "apostle of the people" Paul (which has survived as a figure of speech to this day), i.e. the special title of this church, is on January 25th.

The parish church, dedicated to the conversion of St. Paul, was built between 1460 and 1647. Not only is it one of the largest village churches in South Tyrol, its construction is also a real masterpiece: the tower of the “Dom in the Country”, as it is popularly known, measures 85 meters.
In the tower itself there are 9 bells, the largest of which weighs 5 tons. It is the second largest bell in South Tyrol. It was cast by the Grassmayr bell foundry in Innsbruck. Their tone corresponds to a low "A". The beautiful high altar inside the church is also worth seeing.

The Eppan fraction of St. Pauls was the original parish of the Überetsch and was one of the most important settlements in the Middle Ages, not least thanks to the strikingly large parish church "St. Pauli Conversion".
The church has an eventful architectural history: it ranges from the Gothic to the Renaissance. Due to its architectural and artistic peculiarities, the "Dom in the Country" is one of the most important sacred buildings in South Tyrol. kirche-st-pauls.info